GIFT  OF 


MOTOR  TRANSPORT  IN  CAMPAIGN 


PREPARED  BY  THE  WAR  COLLEGE  DIVISION,  GENERAL  STAFF  CORPS 

AS   A    SUPPLEMENT    TO    THE    STATEMENT    OF    A    PROPER   MILITARY 

POLICY  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES 


WCD  9318-1 


ARMY  WAR  COLLEGE  :  WASHINGTON 

NOVEMBER.  1915 


519 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1916 


w-  . 


//.  / 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Document  No.  519. 


SYNOPSIS. 


I.  INTRODUCTION. 

Page. 

1.  General  conditions  of  employment 5 

2.  Various  types  employed 6 

3.  Motor  trucks'— uses,  capacity,  personnel 6 

4.  Automobile  parks 9 

5.  The  armored  car 11 

6.  The  motorcycle 11 

7.  Use  in  countries  having  few  roads 12 

8.  Ambulances 12 

9.  Fuel 13 

10.  Defects  in  construction  brought  out  under  the  strain  of  active  service  con- 

ditions   14 

Wheels 14 

Lighting  system 14 

Bridges 14 

Transport  of  heavy  ordnance 15 

11.  Kesults  of  the  war 15 

12.  Conclusions 15 

13.  Organization 16 

14.  Collection  of  this  transport 16 

619  (3) 


667376 


MOTOR  TRANSPORT  IN  CAMPAIGN . 


I.   INTRODUCTION. 

The  past  15  months  of  war  have  resulted  in  verifying  in  every 
respect  the  predictions  of  military  writers  of  late  years.  All  pointed 
out  that  nature  and  science  would  be  called  upon  to  serve  mankind 
in  many  practical  ways,  and  that  achievements  then  (at  the  time  of 
writing)  in  their  infancy  would,  under  the  stress  of  war,  develop 
into  aids  which  would  be  found  to  be  of  far-reaching  importance. 

Such  of  these  predictions  as  relate  to  the  use  and  application  of 
motor  transport  have  been  found  to  be  correct,  and  this  is  shown  pri- 
marily through  its  improvement  and  development,  but  lastly  by  the 
fact  that  it  has  become  absolutely  essential  to  the  efficient  jjrosecu- 
tion  of  a  campaign. 

1.  GENERAL  CONDITIONS  OF  EI^FLOYIVrENT.      * 

Modern  weapons  of  offense  and  defense,  such  as  large-caliber 
mobile  artillery,  the  machine  gun,  and  the  aeroplane,  have  exercised  a 
marked  and  direct  influence  on  combat  in  general.  Strategy  has  been 
affected  by  the  altered  conditions  affecting  the  battle,  and  even  the 
conduct  of  an  action  has  been  influenced.  Along  with  the  use  of 
motor  transport,  which  altered  the  aspect  of  warfare,  both  in  coun- 
tries with  good  highways  and  in  those  which  lack  them,  comes  a 
speeding  up  of  the  rate  at  which  military  operations  can  be  conducted. 
The  strategic  mobility  of  troops  has  been  increased,  and  this  fact 
will  bring  about  greater  ease  in  the  grouping  of  forces  for  the 
battle. 

Indirectly  they  promote  "  the  independence  of  the  troops  of  their 
lines  of  communication,  by  facilitating  the  bringing  up  of  supplies 
and  by  creating  possibilities  for  concentration  and  movements  which 
did  not  formerly  exist.  Commanders  acquire  thereby  greater  free- 
dom of  action." 

It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  that  the  methods  of  warfare 
have  been  revolutionized  through  the  use  of  motor  transport.  When 
the  war  is  over  and  the  newspapers  have  ceased  to  announce  in  big 
headlines  the  wonderful  achievements  of  this  type  of  transport,  we 
shall  undoubtedly  find  there  are  many  limitations  to  be  placed  on  its 
use.  However,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  has  aided  in  a  remarkable 
way  the  supply  and  transport  of  troops. 

519 

(5) 


6 

What  may  have  been  found  feasible  on  the  western  front  might 
not  have  been  found  possible  in  the  plains  of  Galicia  and  Poland. 
Difficulties  connected  with  the  repair  and  supply  of  fuel  have  limited 
the  use  of  this  transport  in  a  number  of  cases,  but  no  definite  rule  can 
as  yet  be  deduced  from  the  special  cases  which  are  set  forth  in  the 
press  and  in  the  popular  magazines. 

2.  VARIOUS  TYPES  EMPLOYED. 

The  history  of  the  present  war  indicates  conclusively  that  all  at- 
tempts to  employ  a  special  type  of  car  or  truck  for  service  have 
ceased.  The  type  of  truck  or  car  ordinarily  in  use  in  the  particular 
theater  of  operations  before  hostilities  offers  the  most  adaptable  and 
suitable  transport  for  war  in  that  theater. 

In  France  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  use  any  particular  type 
of  either  automobiles  or  motor  trucks,  but  the  Government  has  taken 
what  it  could  get  from  the  principal  manufacturers.  As  far  as 
possible,  endeavor  is  made  to  have  all  the  motor  trucks  of  each  army 
the  same  makf,. 

Various  American  trucks  have  been  found  excellent  in  every  way, 
and  a  light  chassis  for  ambulances  is  rendering  the  best  service. 
These  can  go  where  heavier  vehicles  in  many  cases  could  not  pass, 
and  where  they  would  only  encumber  the  road. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  conceded  abroad  that  the  trains  corre- 
sponding to  our  field  and  combat  trains  should  be  horse  drawn,  while 
the  division,  corps,  and  army  trains  are  best  constituted  of  motor 
transport.  There  are  to  be  found  some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but, 
generally  speaking,  the  official  reports  are  a  unit  in  this  respect. 

3.  MOTOR  TRUCKS— USES,  CAPACITY,  PERSONNEL. 

The  corps  trains,  for  instance,  in  the  French  organization  corre- 
spond to  our  divisional  trains  (supply,  ammunition,  sanitary,  and  en- 
gineers' trains),  have  in  part  been  replaced  by  motor  vehicles.  The 
supply  train  still  remains  animal  drawn,  with  the  exception  of  that 
part  of  it  engaged  in  taking  forward  beef  from  the  slaughtering 
points  to  the  regimental  train  (their  meat  wagons).  The  ammuni- 
tion train  remains  equipped  with  animal-drawn  caissons.  As  pre- 
viously explained,  these  caissons  must  often  pass  off  of  the  metaled 
roads  and  travel  through  fields  so  as  to  supply  combatant  units. 
Ammunition  is  pushed  up  much  closer  to  troops  by  auto  trucks  than 
was  the  case  in  previous  wars.  The  etape  or  link  therefore  to  be 
covered  by  the  caisson  is  not  as  great  as  it  used  to  be.  However, 
the  expenditure  of  artillery  ammunition  is  much  greater  than  was 
ever  contemplated,  and  the  saving  of  the  road  space  in  the  length 
of  the  etape  or  link  has  been  more  than  compensated  for  in  the 

519 


additional  number  of  trips  these  vehicles  must  make.  The  very  large 
caliber  guns  are  not  assigned  to  the  corps,  but  are  part  of  the  army 
artillery.  The  size  and  weight  of  the  ammunition  of  some  of  these 
guns  make  it  practically  necessary  to  replace  their  ammunition  by 
motor  trucks.  These  guns  themselves  are  so  heavy  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  carefully  pick  out  the  ground  over  which  they  are  taken 
into  position.  They  are  not  mobile  in  the  sense  of  the  guns  with  the 
corps  and  some  of  the  lighter  type  of  heavy  guns  with  the  army. 
Their  position  is  also  such  as  to  make  their  resupply  in  ammunition 
much  simpler  than  the  smaller  guns. 

The  sanitary  trains  have  been  greatly  supplemented  by  the  at- 
taching of  automobile  ambulances  directly  to  these  trains,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  animal-drawn  units.  Although  not  known  definitely,  it 
is  believed  that  some  of  the  animal-drawn  elements  of  this  train  have 
been  suppressed.  The  more  rapid  evacuation  of  the  wounded  by 
automobiles  and  the  distance  the  automobile  can  cover  has  cut  down 
considerably  the  number  of  "  ambulance  immobilize  "  (field  hospi- 
tals) with  the  corps. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  to-day  the  number  of  automobiles  of 
different  classes  with  the  different  armies  varied  somewhere  between 
2,500  and  4,000  with  each  army.  Aside  from  the  touring  cars 
assigned  permanently  to  different  headquarters  and  the  auto  trucks 
and  ambulances  assigned  to  the  corps  and  those  assigned  to  special 
service,  such  as  the  aviation  service,  etc.,  the  balance  are  attached 
to  the  army.  They  form  what  might  be  called  the  automobile  con- 
voy of  the  army,  and  they  are  either  temporarily  assigned  for  cer- 
tain specific  work  to  corps  and  divisions  or  are  used  in  pushing 
supplies  and  material  forward  to  troops  from  railheads.  The  forma- 
tions of  the  different  "  parks  "  attached  directly  to  the  army  corre- 
spond generally  to  the  formation  laid  down  in  our  Field  Service 
Regulations  for  Columns.  It  is  believed  that  after  the  war  is  over 
and  as  the  auto  truck  develops  in  efficiency  that  the  effort  will  be 
made  to  reduce  the  size  of  trains  with  the  divisions  and  corps,  and 
by  means  of  what  we  call  "  columns  "  to  push  supply  and  evacuating 
points  closer  up  to  the  troops.  The  EngHsh  have  perhaps  gone 
further  in  this  particular  to-day  than  the  French,  but  it  is  thought 
that,  with  a  well-trained  personnel  and  efficient  direction,  the  re- 
sults that  would  obtain  under  this  system  would  be  better  than 
the  old. 

Any  intelligent  person  can  foresee  that  at  some  future  time  animal- 
drawn  vehicles  with  an  army  will  disappear.  However,  to-day, 
when  roads  are  not  good  and  when  from  one  reason  or  another 
certain  vehicles  supplying  troops  must  pass  off  these  roads  into  the 
field,  the  animal-drawn  vehicle  still  has  its  advantage  and  must  of 
necessity  be  retained. 

519 


8 

In  France  the  roads  are  excellent  and  are  well  kept  up.  In  the 
Vosges  a  number  of  new  roads  are  being  constructed.  These  latter 
roads  are  all  permanent  and  beautifully  installed. 

Notwithstanding  these  fine  roads  in  France,  the  combat  and  field 
train  of  combatant  units  in  their  entirety,  as  well  as  a  large  portion 
of  their  corps  train  (our  division  trains),  remain  animal-drawn. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  when  we  consider  the  road  condi- 
tions in  our  possible  theater  of  operations  we  will  not  be  able  to 
change  to  the  motor  truck  until  a  much  later  date  than  the  European 
army.  This  will  undoubtedly  be  the  case,  unless  a  great  advance  is 
made  in  automobile  construction.  While  the  authorities  always  have 
been  great  believers  in  auto  trucks  and  are  satisfied  that  in  time  of 
war  we  will  have  need  for  them  in  the  thousands,  it  is  believed  that 
the  development  of  an  efficient  auto  truck  for  combat  and  field  train 
purposes  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  development  of  an  efficient 
farming  auto  truck.  When  an  auto  truck  has  been  developed  that 
will  bring  in  the  average  farmer's  crop  from  his  fields  we  will  have 
an  efficient  auto  truck  for  combat  and  field  train  purposes. 

One  of  a  great  number  of  uses  of  auto  trucks  to-day  is  to  move 
troops  promptly  into  a  threatened  sector  of  the  line  of  trenches.  In 
one  operation  each  division  had  temporarily  under  its  orders  50  auto 
trucks  for  moving  troops.  These  trucks  were  kept  with  the  reserves. 
Each  truck  could  carry  20  equipped  infantrymen.  By  the  use  of 
these  trucks  and  within  a  very  few  minutes  1,000  men  could  be  loaded 
and  moved  to  the  threatened  point.  With  this  load  and  moving  at 
the  rate  of  about  12  kilometers  an  hour,  it  would  not  take  long  to 
commence  throwing  in  reserves.  These  were  only  a  few  of  the  auto 
trucks  that  the  army  had.  If  the  situation  became  more  serious,  then 
additional  trucks  could  also  be  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  in  other  theaters  of  war,  when  a  war 
of  maneuver  has  been  carried  on,  these  trucks  have  been  used  to  carry 
troops  on  raids  accompanying  cavalry.  The  supply  trains  with  cav- 
alry have  also  been  made  up  of  the  transport. 

The  animal-drawn  army  trains  or  grand  parks,  except  certain 
vehicles  of  the  artillery  and  engineers,  have  been  entirely  done  away 
with  and  their  work  done  by  the  army  automobile  convoy. 

On  the  line  of  communication  and  in  the  zone  of  the  interior  prac- 
tically all  the  transportation  in  general  use  is  motor-drawn. 

The  escort  wagon  has  somewhat  the  same  drawbacks  as  an  auto 
truck  when  it  comes  to  moving  off  the  roads  and  in  the  fields.  Dur- 
ing this  war  certain  troops  could  not  have  held  positions  had  they 
not  a  vehicle  of  resupply  that  was  capable  of  getting  off  a  road  cov- 
ered by  hostile  artillery  fire  and  passing  through  fields  under  cover 
to  near  the  troops.  It  is  believed  that  we  should  give  some  serious 

519 


9 

study  to  the  working  out  practically  of  this  question  of  a  suitable 
type  of  combat  train  wagon. 

The  heavy  auto-truck  companies  are  often  supplied  with  trailers, 
the  trailer  having  the  same  carrying  capacity  as  the  truck.  This  type 
usually  carries  3  tons,  but  for  all-round  service  a  IJ-ton  truck  has  been 
found  most  acceptable.  The  use  of  trailers,  however,  must  depend 
upon  road  conditions,  and  where  good  road  conditions  do  not  exist 
the  strain  on  the  truck  is  so  great  as  to  render  the  use  of  the  trailers 
with  the  truck  not  advisable. 

The  number  of  auto  trucks  is  usually  fixed  by  the  number  of 
vehicles  required  to  transport  either  one  day's  rations  for  a  corps 
(125  tons)  or  two  "  lots  "  of  ammunition,  infantry  and  artillery  (160 
tons) .  The  trucks  are  expected  to  make  12  miles  an  hour  and  to  be 
able  to  travel  about  100  miles  a  day. 

The  personnel  with  an  auto-truck  company  varies,  but  it  is  not  far 
from  the  organization  prescribed  for  our  motor-truck  companies. 
(See  Tables  of  Organization.) 

The  use  of  motor  transport  has  reduced,  by  many  men,  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  service  of  supply,  thus  releasing  a  greater  number  of 
men  for  the  firing  line.  In  the  past,  during  some  wars,  the  number 
of  men  required  behind  the  lines  was  equal,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  the 
number  of  fighting  men. 

4.  AUTOMOBILE  PARKS. 

The  extended  use  of  automobiles  of  every  type  in  the  present  war 
has  created  some  new  problems,  one  of  the  most  important  being 
the  maintenance  of  the  various  motor  wagons  in  a  condition  for 
service.  Although  the  reliability  of  motor  cars  has  been  enormously 
improved  in  recent  years,  they,  more  than  most  machines,  are  sub- 
ject to  many  ills  and  troubles. 

Motor-car  troubles  may  be  conveniently  grouped  under  three 
heads :  Ordinary  road  troubles,  such  as  can  be  repaired  by  chauffeurs 
or  mechanicians  with  the  simple  tools  and  repair  parts  carried  for 
this  purpose ;  second,  more  serious  troubles,  which  call  for  shopwork ; 
third,  very  serious  troubles,  which  call  for  factory  work. 

In  order  to  meet  satisfactorily  the  second  class  of  troubles,  those 
calling  for  shopwork,  recourse  is  had  to  the  organization  of  so-called 
automobile  parks,  one  for  each  field  army.  Like  many  other  fea- 
tures of  the  present  war,  the  automobile  park  is  a  new  creation 
called  for  by  the  emergency  of  the  situation.  The  number  of  auto- 
mobiles of  all  kinds  assigned  to  the  field  armies  varies  according 
to  the  conditions,  such  as  size  and  extent  of  front  of  the  army, 
character  of  country  as  regards  available  roads  and  railroads,  etc. 
The  automobiles  assigned  to  each  army  are  numbered  serially,  and 
30669°— No.  519—16 2 


10 

by  observing  the  numbers  noted  at  different  times  and  places  a  fair 
idea  of  the  number  of  machines  belonging  to  a  field  army  may  be 
obtained.  This  number  averages  not  less  than  2,500  per  field  army, 
including  both  passenger  and  freight  autos.  It  is  evident  that  with 
so  large  a  number  of  machines  constantly  doing  hard  service  there 
will  be  need  for  some  organized  and  controlled  scheme  for  repairs. 
This  is  the  task  of  the  automobile  park. 

In  a  populous  region  where  position  warfare  has  obtained  for 
some  time  the  problem  is  easy.  Existing  garages  or  machine  shops 
in  conveniently  located  towns  afford  all  necessary  requisites  for  an 
automobile  park  and  permit  of  undertaking  repairs  on  a  large  scale. 
On  the  other  hand,  where  field  warfare  has  been  the  rule  and  where 
large  industrial  towns  and  villages  are  lacking,  the  problem  is  more 
difficult,  requiring,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  repair  park  have  a 
certain  amount  of  mobility  and  also  that  it  carry  along  its  equip- 
ment and  appliances.  Under  these  conditions  the  repairs  that  can 
be  undertaken  in  the  field  are  more  limited. 

Supposing  a  field  army  to  be  established  in  some  garrison  camp, 
its  personnel  would  be  housed  in  the  barracks  of  the  peace  garrison. 
If  no  suitable  buildings  were  available  for  shops  and  garages,  suit- 
able light- frame  structures  are  erected,  arranging  the  buildings  by 
centering  the  repair  departments  around  the  sides  of  a  rectangle, 
with  open  sheds  in  the  center  for  housing  machines  repaired  and 
awaiting  repairs. 

The  various  shops  are  a  carpenter  shop,  painting  and  glazing 
shop,  machine  shop  equipped  with  power  lathe,  shaper,  emery  wheel, 
drill  press,  etc.,  a  vulcanizing  shop,  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  an  oxy- 
acetylene  welding  outfit.  The  latter  is  a  most  useful  affair,  enabling 
broken  parts  of  steel,  brass,  and  even  aluminum  to  be  welded  to- 
gether. There  is  also  a  small  printing  shop  for  printing  various 
blank  forms  used  by  chauffeurs  in  recording  car  performances.  A 
large  stock  room  containing  spare  parts  of  all  usual  makes  of  auto- 
mobiles forms  part  of  the  park  and  enables  repairs  to  be  made  very 
quickly. 

About  200  cars  are  usually  on  hand  at  the  park,  some  pretty  bad 
cases  among  them,  including  several  which  had  suffered  from  shell 
fire.  With  appliances  available  quite  serious  repairs  can  be  under- 
taken without  returning  cars  to  factory.  A  supply  of  repaired 
cars  in  running  order  is  maintained  from  which  issues  can  be  made 
in  exchange  for  cars  turned  in  for  repairs. 

The  personnel  of  the  park  consists  of  one  captain,  taken  from  the 
railway  regiments;  two  lieutenants,  one  from  the  cavalry  and  one 
from  the  artillery;  and  about  400  men  drawn  from  recruit  depots, 
and  most  of  them  skilled  workmen. 

519 


11 

5.  THE  ARMORED  CAR. 

The  weak  point  in  the  comparatively  heavy  armored  car  lies  in  its 
dependence  on  the  condition  of  the  road  and  its  helplessness  before 
ordinary  obstacles,  such  as  ruts  and  ditches.  It  has  its  uses,  how- 
ever, under  the  conditions  noted  in  the  following  remarks : 

In  the  German  invasion  of  Belgium  *  *  *  motor  vehicles  apparently 
played  an  enormously  important  part  in  enabling  the  enemy  to  push  forward 
more  rapidly  than  he  could  have  done  had  he  had  to  depend  entirely  on  his 
cavalry.  The  armored  car  early  proved  its  value  for  this  sort  of  patrol  work. 
It  exercised  another  influence  on  the  cavalry  arm,  in  that,  by  expediting  the 
rate  at  which  it  was  possible  for  the  invader  to  push  forward,  it  placed  corre- 
spondingly a  greater  strain  on  the  mobility  of  cavalry,  and  to  that  extent  used 
up  the  horses  of  the  enemy  at  an  additional  rate,  as  instance  the  extremely 
ill  condition  into  which  they  got  last  autumn. 

Thus  in  this  connection  the  advent  of  the  motor  vehicle  to  modern  warfare 
made  possible  operations  beyond  the  scope  of  cavalry  unaided,  and  at  the  same 
time  put  a  greater  strain  on  that  arm.  It  has  also  speeded  up  the  movement 
of  the  main  armies,  because,  unlike  horses,  motor  vehicles  do  not  tire  during 
the  spells  in  which  it  is  possible  for  men  to  work  them. 

6.  MOTORCYCLES. 

These  have  generally  proved  unsatisfactory,  and  for  messenger 
and  orderly  service  they  have  been  replaced  by  the  light  motor  car. 
Light  4  or  5-horsepower,  two-passenger  cars,  like  the  Bebe  Peugeot 
and  the  Zebre,  can  go  almost  anywhere. 

In  some  newspaper  reports  and  in  letters  from  the  front  rumors 
of  the  use  of  a  large  number  of  motorcycles  to  move  troops  occur, 
but  no  verification  of  this  has  ever  been  received  through  official 
channels. 

Based  on  these  reports  an  organization  of  a  large  number  of  motor- 
cyclists has  been  proposed,  with  a  view  to  their  use  in  place  of  cav- 
alry. Notwithstanding  the  comparative  invisibility  of  the  motorcycle 
and  its  individual  adaptability  to  a  varied  terrain  such  a  plan  ap- 
pears unfeasible.  In  the  first  place  the  men  would  have  to  be  trained 
as  soldiers  before  they  can  become  military  cyclists,  and,  in  the 
second  place,  no  teamwork  of  the  mass  could  be  assured  without  some 
training  of  the  whole  as  a  body. 

Companies  for  duty  at  Army  corps  or  division  headquarters  are 
feasible,  but  it  is  not  believed  that  large  bodies  can  operate  with  the 
same  ease  as  cavalry.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  during  operations  in 
Courland  a  motorcycle  corps  of  60,000  could  not  have  replaced  that 
amount  of  cavalry  or  have  done  the  work  expected  of  them. 

519 


12 

7.  USE  IN  COUNTRIES  HAVING  FEW  ROADS. 

Perhaps  the  phase  which  has  most  vividly  brought  home  the 
change  wrought  by  the  advent  of  the  motor  in  the  conduct  of  military 
operations  has  been  its  employment  during  the  campaign  against 
De  Wet. 

The  average  mind  can  here  appreciate  the  advance  made  by  the 
present-day  methods  of  warfare,  as  the  scene  was  identical  in  nature 
with  that  of  15  years  ago,  when  something  in  the  neighborhood  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  British  soldiers  were  engaged  in  rounding 
up  De  Wet  and  his  Boers.  There  is,  however,  this  difference,  that, 
while  the  numbers  concerned  were  much  smaller  than  in  the  cam- 
paign referred  to  above,  the  uprising  led  by  De  Wet  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  surprise,  which  made  the  mobilization  of  the  necessary 
troops  and  the  accumulation  of  supplies  impossible  in  advance  of  the 
emergency.  The  hostile  Boers  in  this  instance  had  precisely  the  same 
mobility  which  enabled  them  to  elude  the  British  troops  so  easily  15 
years  ago. 

The  difference  in  the  later  campaign  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
motors  were  employed  instead  of  horses  and  horse-drawn  transport. 

But  these  cars  were  not  built  for  military  use,  being  merely  machines  owned 
by  members  of  the  Johannesburg  Automobile  Club,  many  designed  for  use  only 
on  roads  as  we  understand  them  in  Europe.  The  work  in  hand,  however,  re- 
quired that  the  cars  should  be  driven  across  country  in  all  manner  of  direc- 
tions, over  the  veldt  where  there  chanced  to  be  neither  road  nor  track,  and 
across  the  beds  of  rivers. 

Moreover,  the  vehicles  usually  carried  something  more  than  the  normal  load. 
Scarcely  two  cars  were  of  a  kind  or  model.  Thus,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
military  service,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  select  anything  in  the  way 
of  motor  vehicles  less  suitable  for  the  task.  Of  course,  many  of  the  cars 
broke  down,  as  they  are  breaking  down  every  day  in  the  war  area  in  Europe. 
But  the  thing  that  counted  was  that  more  cars  got  through  than  fell  out  of  the 
running,  while  of  those  that  failed  it  must  be  observed  that  up  to  the  point 
at  which  it  broke  down  each  assisted  to  keep  the  enemy  on  the  run.  To  that 
extent  it  did  its  work  toward  rounding  him  up. 

8.  AMBULANCES. 

Motor  traction  has  worked  wonders  in  this  war  with  the  food  and 
ammunition  supply,  yet  in  each  one  of  these  services  the  final  stage 
is  still  made  by  horse-drawn  vehicles.  However,  under  the  existing 
conditions  of  trench  warfare  the  sanitary  service  has  gone  even 
further  and  have  supplanted  all  slow-moving  horse-drawn  vehicles 
by  light  and  efficient  motor  ambulances. 

The  motor  ambulance  is  the  machine  for  which  the  ordinary  pleasure  car 
chassis,  unaltered,  has  proved  most  suitable.  The  provision  of  these  ambu- 
lances has  undoubtedly  contributed  enormously  to  the  saving  of  life  and  suffer- 
ing. But  the  best  of  them  scarcely  begins  to  realize  the  possibilities  of  a 
motor  vehicle  for  this  service  in  regions  in  which  roads  are  either  lacking  or 
519 


13 

are  torn  up  as  a  result  of  warfare.  They  are  no  longer  using  ambulances 
having  the  excessive  overhang  so  common  among  those  presented  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  But  that  is  only  a  slight  improvement,  for  even  to-day 
the  driver  of  the  average  motor  ambulance  sits  in  the  best  swung  position. 
At  least  part  of  the  patient's  body  as  he  lies  flat — usually  the  feet  and  the 
lower  part  of  the  legs — projects  behind  the  back  axle. 

Nor  should  motor  ambulances  have  too  long  wheel  bases,  because  it  is  often 
necessary  to  turn  them  in  brief  compass.  Obviously  the  driver  should  not  be 
placed  where  he  sits  in  an  ordinary  touring  car  or  town  carriage.  If  the  motor 
must  be  accommodated  in  the  same  part  of  the  chassis,  then  the  ambulance 
driver  and  the  attendant  seated  beside  him  should  be  placed  above  the  engine, 
as  they  are  in  certain  types  of  French  and  German  motor  buses. 

This  arrangement  would  enable  the  best  part  of  the  chassis  ordinarily  occu- 
pied by  the  driver  to  be  used  by  the  patient,  the  whole  of  whose  body  could 
accordingly  be  brought  well  between  the  two  axles.  There  is  nothing  to  the 
speed  at  which  these  ambulances  have  to  be  driven  that  would  render  it  unde- 
sirable to  accommodate  driver  and  attendant  above  the  motor.  Nor  is  this  all, 
for  the  present  system  of  springing  is  at  best  a  mere  combination  of  make- 
shifts, in  that  all  springs  are  the  result  of  building  up  laminations  of  steel 
plates. 

Each  spring  so  built  up  can  give  the  smoothest  riding  only  at  certain  vibra- 
tions and  certain  loads,  whereas  the  whole  point  of  having  a  motor  vehicle 
for  any  sort  of  service  is  that  you  can  use  it  either  with  full  load,  with  part 
load,  or  without  any  load;  also  that  you  can  drive  it  over  any  sort  of  surface 
at  any  speed  of  which  it  is  capable,  from  the  slowest  to  the  fastest.  No  form 
of  laminated  steel  spring  can  therefore  be  quite  suitable  for  the  purpose.  Pos- 
sibly pneumatic  suspension  will  prove  a  successful  solution  of  the  problem. 

These  motor  ambulances,  under  cover  of  darkness,  come  right  up 
to  the  dressing  stations  and  evacuate  direct  to  the  clearing  sta- 
tions, which  are  back  at  corps  headquarters  in  some  suitable  build- 
ing. It  is  due  altogether  to  these  swiftly  moving  ambulances  that 
wounded  can  be  forwarded  to  the  base  and  finally  to  England.  A 
man  if  wounded  in  the  forenoon  is  out  of  luck,  but  the  man  wounded 
in  the  afternoon  may  reach  a  hospital  in  England  before  his  name 
reaches  his  corps  headquarters  as  among  the  wounded. 

9.  FUEL. 

Sufficient  data  do  not  yet  exist  from  which  we  can  state  definitely 
the  various  kinds  of  fuel  employed.  Among  those  mentioned  are 
alcohol,  benzol,  kerosene,  and  gasoline.  Shortage  in  gasoline  and 
increase  in  the  price  will  undoubtedly  cause  a  search  for  a  new  fuel. 
Its  arrival  is  certain,  as  there  has  never  been  a  crying  demand  for 
any  improvement  without  an  answer  from  the  engineers  and  in- 
ventors. Improved  carbureters  and  lighter  cars  show,  in  a  way,  the 
line  of  advance  of  improvements. 

With  the  export  demand,  the  war,  and  the  domestic  demand,  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  much  thought  of  lower  prices  for  gaoline.  While 
kerosene  could  be  used  and  would  be  cheap,  it  has,  up  to  this  time, 
exhibited  a  tendency  to  give  off  an  odor  when  burned  and  it  also 

519 


14 

leaves  an  excess  of  carbon  in  the  cylinders.  The  low  grade  of  gaso- 
line is  a  little  more  difficult  to  start  on,  but  it  supplies  more  heat  and 
is  a  better  fuel  for  general  work  after  the  motor  is  under  way. 

Some  moderately  successful  attempts  have  been  made  in  this  re- 
spect, but,  although  the  cost  has  been  reduced  to  7  cents  per  mile, 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  exists  because  of  the  sediment  left  in  the 
carbureter.  This  may,  however,  be  remedied  by  study,  and  we  may 
have  a  new  less  expensive  fuel  before  long. 

Thus  the  war  has  speeded  up  the  development  of  the  motor  car, 
permanent  improvements  will  result  and,  perhaps,  a  new  fuel. 

10.  DEFECTS  IN  CONSTRUCTION  BROUGHT  OUT  UNDER  THE 
STRAIN  OF  ACTIVE-SERVICE  CONDITIONS. 

Lack  of  standardization  of  parts  and  the  continual  breaking  of 
radiators  are  mentioned  as  being  the  main  troubles  encountered  in 
handling  this  kind  of  transport.  The  last  trouble  undoubtedly 
comes  from  the  shock  due  to  bad  roads  and  to  continued  use  without 
an  opportunity  for  repairs  or  rest. 

For  the  student  who  has  studied  carefully  the  development  of 
this  transport  the  most  gratifying  thing  about  remodeling  the  propo- 
sition of  modern  warfare,  made  possible  by  the  arrival  of  the  motor 
vehicle,  is  the  fact  that  every  accomplishment  and  every  success,  up 
to  date,  stands  to  the  credit  of  machines  neither  specially  designed 
nor  produced  for  war  purposes. 

WHEELS. 

The  wheels  giving  the  most  satisfaction  are  those  in  which  a  steel 
plate  replaces  the  spokes,  and  where  the  dual  tire  is  of  solid  rubber. 
This  has  been  tried  out  in  several  trucks  and  found  serviceable. 

LIGHTING  SYSTEM. 

The  "  Prestolite  "  system  was  not  serviceable  nor  satisfactory,  and 
electric  lighting  found  much  better  in  every  way.  The  feature  re- 
ported on  as  being  successful  in  every  way  was  the  movable  head- 
light. It  is  of  great  use  when  loading  and  unloading  at  night  and 
while  off  the  main  road  and  parking  the  machines.  A  good  electric 
headlight  arranged  on  a  universal  joint  and  within  reach  of  the 
driver  has  been  spoken  of  as  an  ideal  arrangement. 

BRIDGES. 

Closely  connected  with  the  use  of  motor  transport  comes  the  im- 
portance of  good  roads,  and  next  the  question  of  bridges  and  a  study 
of  the  means  to  be  taken  to  strengthen  the  highway  bridge  ordi- 

519 


15 

narily  encountered  in  this  country.  Heavy  ordnance,  together  with  a 
continual  stream  of  motor  transport,  will  without  doubt  test  the 
average  highway  bridge  in  many  probable  areas  of  operations.  The 
development  of  heavy  ordnance  has  called  for  the  use  of  the  motor 
in  its  transportation.  There  is  plenty  of  information  on  hand  to 
show  that  the  transport  of  heavy  ordnance,  away  from  the  railroad 
lines,  has  been  accomplished  by  special  motor  vehicles. 

11.  RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR. 

The  export  of  motor  vehicles  in  the  past  two  years  has  moved 
forward  with  a  great  bound.  In  1915  it  amounted  to  $100,000,000, 
while  in  1914  it  was  $28,507,464,  an  increase  of  250  per  cent.  The 
estimated  value  of  commercial  vehicles  exported  was  $63,000,000  of 
the  total.  England  has  been  the'best  buyer  of  automobiles  from  the 
United  States.  Her  purchases  amounted,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  to  5,306  trucks.  France  and  Russia  also  were  heavy  pur- 
chasers. When  the  war  ends  there  must  needs  be  an  immediate  re- 
adjustment of  the  great  industries  of  the  belligerent  countries.  Hence 
it  is  believed  that  there  will  be  left  in  the  hands  of  many  of  our 
manufacturers  trucks  of  the  latest  pattern.  Why  should  we  not  use 
them  to  form  the  cadres  for  our  divisional  and  Army  transport,  and 
accustom  not  only  the  troops  but  a  number  of  officers  and  men  with 
the  use,  handling,  and  repair  of  motor  vehicles  ? 

The  following  quotation,  taken  from  a  foreign  motor  publication, 
shows  that  this  question  has  already  been  agitated  in  France : 

Among  the  problems  that  are  apt  to  come  up  at  the  close  of  the  war  in 
Europe  is  the  means  to  be  taken  by  the  belligerent  nations  in  disposing  of  the 
motor  trucks  now  in  use  by  the  armies.  France  apparently  has  formed  an 
answer  to  the  question  already.  At  an  auction  held  recently,  740  of  the  Paris 
internal-gear  drive  omnibuses  mobilized  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  were  sold, 
to  be  replaced  by  an  equal  number  of  similar  chassis  for  work  at  the  front. 
By  selling  these  chassis  at  this  time  to  private  owners  it  was  possible  to  fore- 
stall the  purchase  of  that  many  chassis  from  neutral  nations. 

Another  benefit  to  France  is  that  this  method  of  selling  French  trucks  that 
have  seen  service  prevents  the  beginning  of  an  installation  of  foreign  chassis  by 
large  owners  who  might  after  the  war,  in  the  interest  of  standardization,  con- 
tinue their  purchases  of  trucks  made  outside  of  France. 

The  foreign  trucks  now  used  by  the  French  Army  are  run  until  they  are 
useless  and  can  not  be  overhauled  advantageously,  and  are  then  replaced  by 
French-made  chassis,  the  latest  advices  from  France  being  that  the  factories 
there  are  now  in  a  position  to  care  for  the  army's  needs. 

12.  CONCLUSIONS. 

The  question  is  at  once  asked  whether  or  not  we  have  taken  steps 
to  use  this  transport  and  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  large  amount  of 
suitable  material  existing  to-day  in  the  United  States. 

510 


16 

The  answer  is  made  that  this  has  been  done  as  far  as  existing 
appropriations  will  allow.  However,  most  of  these  vehicles  are 
operating  singly  or  in  pairs,  and  at  no  one  place  are  there  sufficient 
for  one  company. 

13.  ORGANIZATION. 

The  organization  proposed  for  a  motor-truck  company  conforms 
to  the  experience  of  officers  abroad,  but  as  yet  no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  collect  the  material  of  automobile  parks  or  for  repair  shops 
and  these  are  shown  by  the  experience  of  all  to  be  badly  needed  in 
field  operations. 

The  assignment  of  this  transport  to  the  divisional  trains  is  correct 
and  conforms  with  the  practice  abroad. 

There  should  be  organized  in  each  division  a  motor-truck  com- 
pany, and  attached  thereto  a  repair  shop.  This  organization  will 
form  a  cadre  as  well  as  a  place  where  chauffeurs  and  mechanicians 
can  be  trained.  It  is  true  we  can  recruit  plenty  of  men  from  this 
class  when  war  is  imminent,  but  it  is  one  thing  to  be  a  chauffeur  and 
another  to  be  a  military  chauffeur. 

Abroad  this  defect  does  not  exist,  but  with  us  something  should 
be  done  to  remedy  the  lack  of  disciplined  material.  The  experience 
of  certain  of  the  belligerents  in  this  respect  will  be  ours  if  we  become 
involved  in  war. 

14.  COLLECTION  OF  THIS  TRANSPORT. 

Based  on  the  type  of  vehicle  in  use  in  the  cadre  in  each  division, 
attempt  ought  to  be  made  to  arrange  for  a  large  number  of  vehicles 
of  a  similar  type.  The  same  type  of  vehicle,  as  far  as  possible,  should 
be  used  within  a  division  or  even  a  field  army  if  such  can  be  accom- 
plished. 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  could  under  the  law  obtain  the 
data,  in  each  divisional  district,  necessary  for  listing  suitable  trans- 
port. The  Quartermaster  General's  Office  has  prepared  a  pro- 
visional plan  for  utilizing  motor  transport,  under  existing  laws,  and 
this  plan  includes  a  contract  system  which  will  take  the  place  of 
the  prizes  and  subsidies  that  have  been  found  so  efficacious  abroad. 

All  these  steps  are  in  the  right  direction,  and  we  have  conserved 
the  underlying  principle  for  the  use  of  mechanical-driven  transport, 
and  this  is  that  it  is  a  transportation  unit  pure  and  simple.  It  picks 
up  a  load  at  one  place  and  discharges  this  load  upon  arrival  at 
destination.  It  is  not  employed  in  transporting  mobile  reserves. 
The  animal-drawn  vehicle  transports  the  rolling  reserve.  Animal- 
drawn  vehicles  are  still  being  purchased  in  great  numbers  by  the 
French.  A  recent  order  has  been  placed  for  over  4,000  of  these 
wagons.  The  French  have  not  as  yet  replaced  the  animal-drawn 

519 


17 

transport  of  combat  and  field  trains  with  autotrucks,  nor  do  they 
apparently  intend  to  do  so.  The  corps  supply,  ammunition,  and 
sanitary  trains  remain  animal-drawn,  except  that  automobile  ambu- 
lance sections  form  part  of  the  sanitary  train,  and  fresh-meat  auto- 
mobile sections  form  part  of  the  supply  train. 

The  foregoing  facts  are  striking  when  we  consider  the  excellent 
roads  being  maintained  in  the  theater  of  operations.  The  animal- 
drawn  vehicle  will  undoubtedly  be  eventually  replaced  by  mechan- 
ical-driven transport.  However,  before  this  can  be  done,  even  in 
Europe,  many  mechanical  imperfections  at  present  existing  in  the 
autotruck  must  be  overcome.  Our  problem  in  this  particular  is 
more  difficult  than  the  European,  when  we  consider  the  roads  and 
bridges  in  our  probable  theater  of  military  operations,  and  it  is 
very  possible  that  we  will  not  be.  able  to  make  the  change  until  some 
time  after  it  has  been  effected  in  Europe.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  it  may  be  some  years  before  we  can  use  autotrucks  in  our  first 
and  second  lines  of  transportation,  the  fact  remains  that,  in  the 
event  of  a  war,  we  will  have  need  for  this  kind  of  transportation 
in  great  quantities  behind  our  second-line  transportation. 

519 

o 


Makers 
Stockton,  Calif. 

PAT.  JAN.  21,  1908 


6S7376 


f 


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